(Braun-Inglis (L) and Myers (R) 2023 Fred Joe)
From Task Force to Full Committee: A Five-Year Plan Pays Off
Ahead of our 2022 funding cycle, Christa Braun-Inglis, DNP, APRN, FNP-BC, AOCNP, and Jamie S. Myers, PhD, RN, AOCNS, FAAN, came to The Hope Foundation with a five-year vision to integrate advanced practice providers (APPs) more fully into cancer clinical research.
Their rationale was compelling: APPs are quickly growing in number and updated NCI guidelines and policies have formalized roles that are more pertinent for APPs to participate in NCI-sponsored trials.
In year one, Braun-Inglis and Myers utilized Hope funding to hold a multidisciplinary symposium at the spring 2022 SWOG group meeting to raise awareness of what APPs could contribute to clinical trials. With collaborative support from a cross-NCTN working group, they then organized a practical workshop at the fall 2022 meeting to help APPs understand how to engage with clinical research. By spring 2023, Braun-Inglis and Myers recruited and convened a SWOG APP Task Force to discuss barriers to APP integration across cooperative groups, research bases, and local institutions, and how to lower those barriers.
Last year, with key funding support from Gilead, momentum continued with the launch of the NCTN MAPP program (Mentoring Intervention for Advanced Practice Providers) a year-long mentoring intervention. Mentees could connect with their mentors and peers through a series of one-on-one and group sessions, complete the practical workshop online, travel to key professional meetings, and ideally stay involved through the task force. Success with the first MAPP cohort prompted a second round for 2026.
Now, that sustained effort has reached a significant milestone. With the start of the new NCTN grant cycle, SWOG has established a new research support committee: the Advanced Practice Provider and Nurse Scientist Committee, with Myers and Braun-Inglis appointed as its inaugural co-chairs. The new committee launches with dual objectives — education and training on one hand, and research on the other — including recruiting and mentoring APPs and nurse scientists into the full range of SWOG committees and developing strategies to expand their roles in protocol development, trial accrual, and study leadership.
For The Hope Foundation, the establishment of this committee represents exactly the kind of long-term impact that early, strategic investment can generate. What began as a request from two passionate SWOG members has grown into a permanent institutional structure within our vast research network. Cheers to Christa, Jamie, and all who have helped this five-year plan pay off!